DECISIONS!

It's been a week since my last post. It's not that I have nothing to say, I just haven't found the time to connect to that inner voice that tells me what to put down. I guess I finally connected.


I am very excited. We're heading up the mountain to Bear Bottom this weekend and bringing friends. Plans include canoeing, hiking, a play and of course eating. One of our favorite pastimes. Eating. Isn't it funny how so much of our lives revolves around food?



One of the questions my wife and I pitch back and forth almost daily is, "What's for dinner?" I do most of the cooking in our household so the question is usually directed at me. It's been that way for all of our married life. She cleans, takes care of my clothes, even mows the lawn (don't go crazy, it's a very small yard) and I cook. I think I have the best part of the deal. I do more than just cook. I also do the grocery shopping and decide WHAT we are going to eat. Not an easy task. Sometimes that's the hardest part. Deciding. But life is like that anyway, don't you think? Often the doing is the easy part, or at least the most fun, but the deciding can take forever and can be almost like work. It shouldn't be if you decide with passion.



Take this weekend for example. When we bought our mountain place I jokingly self-inflicted myself with the title Activities Director. I even have the t-shirt to prove it. I'm usually the one planning where to go, when we'll get there, how long we'll stay, etc. My only orders for this weekend were that we wanted to "DO" something. Like sitting on the front porch rocking with a cold beer in your hand isn't DOING something? Anyway, the decision making process started. What to do? Canoeing was suggested. Which outfitter do I choose? How long a trip? What time, morning or afternoon? See, DECISIONS. And just over something so small and fun as a little float down the New River.



Life is very much a continuous checklist of decisions. (Pay attention little Emrick.) What's for dinner? Where will we live when we're married? Will we have children or not? Will we buy a place in the mountains or continue just traveling around in our camper seeing other parts of the country? If it's the mountains, where in the mountains? I think we made the right decision. Alleghany County is beautiful and we couldn't be happier with our decision to buy here. I'm really looking forward to learning more about the area and it's people and getting to know more of the locals. So far we have met only a handful of people and they all seem very friendly and excited that we have chosen their community for our weekend retreat. We certainly are.




This weekend should prove another star on the chart for Alleghany County and Sparta. The play we are to see, Alleghany Lives, (http://www.sparta-nc.com/ACT/) is being presented by the Alleghany Community Theater this Friday and Saturday at 7pm with a Sunday Matinee at 2pm. The performances will be held in the Sparta School auditorium. The link above will give you all the details except ticket prices. They are $5 and available at the door. (I had to dig to find that out.) The play is based on the history of Alleghany County and I am looking forward to absorbing as much as I can. If you're in the area and don't have any plans this weekend why don't you join us. And if you're you're from the area stop me and say hello. I would really love to meet you.


You'll recognize me. I'll be the one grinning from ear to ear.
After all, I'm in the mountains for the weekend. Why wouldn't I be happy?

New beginning

Here I am writing a blog. I don't have time to read other people's much less create my own and yet, here I am writing a blog.

I'll start with why.

I am 51 years old. Self-employed. Happily married. Reasonably healthy. Enjoying life. My wife and I purchased a small parcel of land near Sparta, NC last fall and have been spending as much time there as possible without getting fired from our jobs. We have fallen in love with the place. At the base of the Blue Ridge Parkway. Great community. Great climate. Great weather. (If you don't like the weather, just wait a few minutes.) Great neighbors. Great wildlife everywhere. Deer, turkey, coyotes, more birds than we can identify. No bears sited but the neighbors tell us they are in the area and have been seen on occasion over the years and according to the NC Dept. of Natural Resources bears do habitate close to where we are, a few miles from Doughton Park. Actually I'll be fine if we don't actually come face to face with Ursus americanus, just knowing they are there is enough. Thus the name of the blog. That's what we named our little slice of heaven. Bear Bottom.

I wanted to express my thoughts and feelings on our new life more for myself than anyone else. If others obtain a little something from my post then so be it. I'll try not to be funny or clever or wax poetic, although I may do all three, and then some, at the same time, without even meaning to. I'm doing this for me. If you choose to read then the weight is on you. My opinions. My choice. I guess the main reason for starting this blog is to leave something for my future grandson. We are expecting our first grandchild next month and I guess I just wanted a way to connect to him in years to come. A way for him to see inside his Poppy's mind and heart and soul. Maybe one day he'll experience the joy and peacefulness of an Alleghany snow fall or a brisk hike on a cold winter's day or the quiet solitude of a cool spring night sky. I want for him no more, no less than he wants for himself. I just hope I am around to help him understand his place in God's wonderful world and the importance of our stewardship in keeping it as safe as possible for future generations.

We just spent a couple of days at Bear Bottom and experienced rain and sun and deer and turkey with new little one's and a relaxation that is difficult to explain or put into words. Some of our friends can't understand the draw but we feel everytime we climb the mountain. We're home.

Read my mind and my heart little Emrick. Poppy is talking to you.